


gamer's high

by fulminastra



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: AAAAAAAAAAANGST, Angst, Drabble Collection, Gamers, Gen, Original Character - Freeform, birthday!!!, fun and chaos ensues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22290655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fulminastra/pseuds/fulminastra
Summary: itaru, banri, and yurika, and the world that awaits them.
Relationships: Chigasaki Itaru/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 14





	1. gamer's high

“there's no way in hell i will let that yuritachi stay in the top spot!”

another day, another session of grinding for your best boy. itaru and banri are in the living room, trying to fight their way into the top, yet user yuritachi is in the lead at 22M points—how the hell did she get that many points? itaru's only at 10M!

“i might finish up my salary before the day's over,” says itaru. 

banri snorts. “good luck with that. i think i can pass them in three hours.”

“three? you're at 8M, you shitstick!”

“hello, boys,” a voice calls out, interrupting their bantering. it's yurika tachibana, izumi's cousin. “oooh, is it that idol game?”

“yeah,” itaru sighs. “i have been trying to take over user yuritachi, but they have a huge lead on me and i have been trying to grind for days on END but i can't get to top 1—”

“maybe because you're not trying hard enough,” says yurika, and shows her phone. in the screen is the same idol game they played. she's yuritachi, rank 1 at 28M points. “eat my dust, fuckers.”

itaru and banri freeze in shock as she walks away.


	2. dance on the moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> despite the title, they're not dancing on the moon. also why is banri dancing to k-pop?

“welcome, everyone, to the mankai company dance showdown!”

everyone cheers as  kazunari , the announcer for today's showdown, introduces the competitors:  banri settsu , the local bad boy with a heart (as she describes him), and  yurika tachibana , the loudmouth with a fluid body. the house was divided into two—spring and summer, along with  izumi , cheer on for  yurika ; autumn and winter, along with  matsukawa (for some reason) cheer on for  banri . everyone’s out on the courtyard—even  yuzo was invited to join in (first of all, why would he watch a silly showdown?)

yurika and  banri both warm up, adrenaline slowly coursing through their veins.  _ i _ _ won’t lose. not to him. not to anyone in this place. _ she says those words over and over and over and over again in her brain as  kazunari reads the rules.

“the rules are simple! we will shuffle a playlist compiled by the  mankai song team—” he gestures to citron,  homare ,  masumi and himself— “and you guys will have to dance to each song alternatively! now, by way of coin flipping, we have determined that  yurika goes first, so miss  tachibana , step up onto the stage!”

yurika takes a deep breath and walks to the center of the courtyard. as she gets ready,  kazunari signals the song team to put the playlist on shuffle, and the first song plays.  _ horizon _ _ by  _ _ ateez _ _ ,  _ she thinks.  _ doesn’t have a  _ _ choreo _ _ , but  _ _ i _ _ can make do. _

and she surprises everyone.

she doesn’t dance in a cute way or whatever—rather, she dances like she’s in her own world. her moves are fluid yet sharp at the same time; her feet make her look like she’s walking on air; her expressions make all of this more ethereal.

and once she’s was done, everyone stares at her with wide eyes and mouths. she scoffs. “what the hell are you all gaping at? let’s get on with this show!”

the next few songs pass by in a flash— yurika finds out for the first time that  banri can dance to such cute songs and teases him for it (that earns a laugh from all of  mankai and a blushing  banri ),  banri losing his shit on  yurika dancing to  tt by twice, YURIKA LOSING HER SHIT OVER BANRI DANCING TO FANCY BY TWICE, and other funny moments that  kazunari makes sure to post on his instablam. yet they are both good, and the scores ends up to a tie by the end of it all.

“tiebreaker, folks! this time it’s a race to dance to the song first!”  kazunari announces. the crowd goes wild as  kazunari counts down to 0. 

then the song plays—it's ruddy by cherry bullet—and  yurika takes the stage first as she dances to one of her favorite songs. yet this is her final performance—she won’t settle for okay; it has to be excellent—and so she decides to sing.

and yet again, by the time everything is over, the courtyard is dead silent.  kazunari shakily lifts the mic to his lips. “w-well, that’s decided!” he stutters.

“the winner of the  mankai company dance showdown is  yurika tachibana!”


	3. silent night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> who gets that double SS score?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pls support dreamcatcher

A string of curses can be heard from the living room.

Yurika is close to getting her skates and throwing them at the person who’s been tainting the dorm nonstop when she hears something interesting. “Why is this song so hard? I’ve been getting As for three tries straight!”

And so she bolts out of her room with her phone in hand, almost sliding down the stairs and injuring herself in the process. “What hard song? Is it the new one in that rhythm game you told me about? Can I try? Can I try?” She’s practically rapping at this point.

Itaru sighs. “Silent Night by DREAMCATCHER. It says it’s a Korean OST from a game I practically know nothing about.” He scrolls through the wiki. “Queen’s Raid . . .? Interesting.”

“Ugh, that song is so hard for me too.” Banri walks into the living room. “Even worse, I can hear the smacking sounds from Hyodo trying to scarf down one single red velvet cake.”

“You got a problem with that, Settsu?” Juza’s voice startles Yurika.

“Boys, don’t go corrupting the dorm with your high testosterone levels. I’m literally suffering here.” She turns to Itaru. “Any other songs from that OST?”

“Yeah, but those are easy. I get double S from them every time.”

“So it’s just Silent Night, then?”

Itaru nods.

“Well, let’s get started, shall we?”

Yurika rips the phone from Itaru’s hands amidst his protest and starts searching for the song. “Damn, this is a very high level,” she whistles. “The only other song with that level is that song from KniRoun VI and believe me, that took me a week to finish.”

“Wait, what song from KniRoun VI?” 

Now Itaru has her attention. Shit shit shit that was a trade secret! Abort! She decides to start up the song so that she doesn’t get to answer the question.

. . . Actually, it was fairly easy.

For the majority of the song, her combo was on max level. No misses, nothing short of perfect. She even got to eat some macarons as she clears the song. 

Yet the real battle starts at the drop.

Curses fly from her mouth as her thumbs fly over the screen, struggling to hit all the tabs and keeping with the rhythm at the same time. The song goes faster and faster and she swears she missed a couple of tabs already, and just like that, it’s over.

She gets a double S and a SSR card.


	4. kniroun x gamer essentials

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the most expensive surprise in the history of itaru's gaming life—and his life in general.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am a mess. and i probably made a mistake somewhere. anyways enjoy

Itaru thought this was going to be another normal day for him.

He expected to dress up, go to work, grind his games, do more work, go home and game some more, rinse and repeat. He has to work especially hard because of the limited edition Knights of Round X gamer essentials, made by a couple of fans in collaboration with the developer.

And boy was it expensive. It costed around 20,000 yen—mainly because of the amount of merch inside, as well as the quality of the materials. It included a jacket, the new Kniroun X game, a high-quality headset, figurines of the characters, and more.

And as mentioned, it was a limited edition.

Itaru shifted around and felt something hard on his feet. He sat up and saw a box with a note on top of it, written with a penmanship Itaru's very familiar with.

**[ to the one and only taruchi,**

**it's the 21st of april. your birthday, you idiot.**

**since i know that the kniroun x gamer essentials is what caused you to work overtime, i thought i would end your misery and buy it for you. ( i bought my own, too. too hard not to resist limited-edition stuff. ) ]**

_What._

**[ i also took the liberty to tell chikage that you be excused from work today, so we can spend one day of grinding our asses. i don't have classes today, too, so score for me! ]**

_Double what._

**[ in truth: i missed you. i missed the player two to my player one. can we game till sundown, like we used to?**

**love you.**

**from your player one,**

**yuritachi**

**(p.s. wear the jacket. i have a surprise. and go to the living room.) ]**

_Triple what._

He immediately opened the box and saw all kinds of Kniroun merch—the headset, the figurines, the trinkets. And the jacket, which for some reason has his name embroidered at the back.

That costed an additional 1,000 yen to even do that—how did she get the funds?

He quickly freshens up and dons the jacket, and practically sprints to the living room to find—

"SURPRISE!”

—

He was in shock.

Everyone in Mankai was there—the troupes, Isuke, the Director . . . 

And in the middle of it all was his player one, Yurika, holding out a console.

He could see his favorite games in every part of the room, especially in what they're all wearing—they were wearing costumes from Kniroun X. (He assumed that Yurika had them at gunpoint—literally—for this to happen.)

“Yu . . . rika? What's going on?” asked Itaru, stupefied.

“We're doing a run-through of Kniroun X! The console version, of course.” Yurika chuckles. “I signed us up for the beta."

_The what?!_

He was shocked. His player one pulled out all the stops to make his birthday the best thing that ever happened to him, and Itaru could safely say she succeeded. He would make sure to repay her on her birthday in four days, but for now, it's game time.

He's happy to try out the beta version of his favorite game, with his most favorite person beside him.

She tossed the console to Itaru, and he catches it. “Wanna play?”

He smirked. “Don't mind if I do.”

“And to everyone here—grab your popcorn, sit back and relax! I will livestream everything, per Hoshii-san's wishes!”

“Wait, on what account?”

“Yours, of course. By the way, it's already streaming.”

_“WHAT?!”_


	5. 0428

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yurika's birthday blog.

[ 0428. i have a lot to thank for.

i thank izumi for letting me stay with her in the dorms as i continue my studies; i thank her for letting me have a job as a choreographer, and i thank her for being my cousin, my best friend. i don't know what to do without her.

i thank kazunari and banri for making my life at veludo arts a lot more manageable, and for making my university life seem like something out of the stories i used to write when i was a kid. i'll never forget their quirks, their weird . . . mannerisms, everything. i must treat them to something, someday.

i thank yuki and azami for helping me with my outfits and my makeup every time i have a performance; their sense of style is impeccable! love the fact that they're also as snarky as me ( makes ranting about the mankai dorm residents very interesting, really ).

i thank masumi for his music recommendations, and isuke for lending me some of his instruments ( even though i constantly fail on the violin ). i thank omi for making us delicious food that's on par with michelin-starred restaurants. i thank all the troupes, the people i worked with, for taking care of me and for letting me impart my knowledge of dancing to them.

and lastly, i must not forget my gamer buddy. my player two. basically the sun to my stars.

itaru chigasaki. thank you for staying with me, for gaming with me, and for loving me. i don't know how i will survive living in this sucky world without your support ( and your op items—they're lifesavers, really ). thank you for letting me stream with you sometimes as we get bombarded by enemy tanks and players. thank you for letting me do your gacha pulls, and for letting me love kniroun as much as you do.

i want to love you and to game with you till the end of our lives. ]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on twt @usuigoi and stan loona :)


	6. in bottles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cue the resonant puking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy fuck it's the longest a3 piece i have written so far

“Man, I crave cutlets right now—"

"Come on, Yurika, we still have this performance to record!"

"Hey guys, what outfit are we going to use—?"

"Look, look! We're almost here!"

Yurika and her groupmates from Veludo Arts University are on their way to a place that their groupmate Chizuru recommended—it's supposedly a place that fits the aesthetic of their performance assignment, due in a week's time. She's excited—she's the one chosen to perform the dance, and she booked the practice room at the Mankai Company dorms for a week—much to the chagrin of Summer Troupe, whose play is in a month's time—to practice the piece.

Yet she doesn't expect her setting to be at GODza's esteemed theater.

She visibly panics and pulls her group close to her. "GODza? You know that they literally hate Mankai's guts, especially me and my cousin—they hate even the mention of our surname!"

"Chill, Yurika," Chizuru pats her friend's head. "Reni and Haruto haven't met you, no?"

“I hope that’s the case,” Yurika sighs. “Have you told them about our arrival? And how did you  _ even _ get the permission to let us dance on the stage, anyways?”

“My dad’s well-known there, he’s one of the choreographers,” Chizuru replies. “And yes, I have informed them, and I was about to tell your names, but Reni insisted that you guys introduce yourselves to him in an . . . artistic way.” She shudders. Yurika sighs in relief, then a new thought comes into her head.

This might work, as long as no one’s going to snitch on her.

“Hey, Mitsuki?” She glances at the blonde holding her hand. The girl named Mitsuki turns to her. “Yes?”   
  


“Mind if I borrow your surname?”

Mitsuki coughs.

*

“Chizuru, these must be your band of wandering performers?” Reni muses, stroking his chin. Haruto, Shifuto and Madoka are with him.

“Yes, sir!” Chizuru exclaims. “Guys, introduce yourselves!”

The only guy in the group bows down first. “Greetings, Kamikizaka-san. My name is Kawahara Aoi.”

“I’m Vega Fujishiro.”

Mitsuki points a finger gun at Reni. “The name’s Chigasaki Mitsuki!”

Yurika visibly panics and hurriedly bows down. “Chi-Chigasaki Yurika, sir. N-nice to meet you.”

Reni simply nods. “It is a pleasure to meet you all too. Now Chizuru, dearest, who’s going to dance?”

Everyone points to Yurika. She gulps. “I-I am, sir.”

He chuckles. “Very well. I’ll be watching your performance. Don’t disappoint me.” He then leaves, and Haruto and Madoka follow, leaving Shifuto with them. “Ooh, a dance performance? I wanna learn from you!”

Yurika snatches the costume from Vega and immediately runs backstage. She puts on the costume as quickly as possible, wasting no time. She doesn’t want to stay here for longer. Something about this place irks her to no end, but how can she tell that to her friends when they’ve been pulling all-nighters like her to make their assignment as successful as possible?

_ Alright,  _ she psyches herself up.  _ Let’s just get this over with. _

She rushes out from backstage and urges her friends to start setting up under the pretense that she has somewhere to go, so she has to finish this as quickly as possible, but was stopped by Chizuru holding her firmly by the shoulders, “Yurika, I understand that this place creeps you out or whatever, since you’re from Mankai,” she chastises, “but slow down. We’ll get out of here once we’re done, okay? Breathe.”

And so she breathes. And slows down. And smiles at her.

The song they pick is a song by Aurora called In Bottles, and Yurika never has a say in the matter; they say it was “dramatic enough” for Reni to approve, and she wonders why the hell do they have to have Reni’s approval for this shit, then promptly puts her thoughts aside.

She steps onto the stage. She closes her eyes, and lets the music surround her. Lets the music enter her veins and envelop her in a world where she constantly finds solace in.

She lets herself move.

*

“Yurika, you fucking madlad! Thank goodness they haven’t roasted you alive yet!”

Everyone gathers in the lounge area as Yurika and Chizuru narrate the events that transpired earlier, their eyes shining with curiosity. After she was done storytelling, most of them are surprised she’s still in one piece. (Especially the former GODza members, Taichi and Tasuku.)

“Was Reni too harsh on you? Did he call you names or anything?” Taichi fires question after question so fast Yurika barely has time to dodge any of them, let alone answer any of them.

“Chill, Taichi!” Yurika chastises. “One at a time, please, I feel like I’m a famous celebrity in a presscon somewhere,” she adds, which earned chuckles from the group.  _ Score! _

“To answer your questions, Taichi: surprisingly, he wasn’t that harsh on me. In fact, he actually gave some advice, though I’m not sure if those helped, since he’s all about posture and expression and perfection and those shit. Though perhaps he would’ve been a lot harsher if I revealed I was a Tachibana . . .”

“Well, how did you get past his fury, anyways?” Banri asks.

She rubs the back of her head in embarrassment. “Well . . .”

“She used my last name to bypass him,” Mitsuki interjects, earning stares from everyone, including an angry stare by Miss Chigasaki--I mean, Tachibana. “She introduced herself as Chigasaki Yurika.”

Two beats of silence. Then the room erupts in cries of laughter and utter shock. Some members are quite flustered, while a person by the name of Izumida Azami hides in the corner, his face beet red, while muttering something about marriage.

Banri is the first one to speak up. “Jesus Christ, Yurika, never knew you wanted to get married to Gamer Boy here that much!”

“Why would  _ anyone  _ wanna get married to Elite Swindler right here?” Yuki interjects. “He practically smells!”

“I-I mean, Itaru-san is very handsome, just like a prince!” Muku interrupts.

“EVERYONE, SILENCE!” Yurika shouts. The room goes silent. 

“I-I mean, what’s wrong with being married to him? I would like to get married to him . . .” Her voice trails off. Then  _ she _ turns beet red. “Oops.”

“You know, I thought you’d use it in a sibling fashion, but here we are I guess,” Itaru says.

“So you don’t want to get married to me?”

“Well . . . getting married to my Player Two sounds kinda nice.”

Cue the resonant puking.


	7. parting is such sweet sorrow (1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> rage is all that she feels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wrote this in a burst of . . . whatever it is called. i apologise.

“You’ve been hanging out with us less and less.”

She faces Chizuru, her nerves as chilly as ice. There’s no light in her eyes; only darkness and anger reside there. She faces her friend, whom she has known ever since she stepped foot at Veludo Way, desperate and isolated; now merely a stranger, someone whom she’d rather not have met.

Chizuru merely shrugs. “Well . . . Reni has been giving me a  _ lot  _ of stuff to do, now that I’m promoted to senior choreographer,” she says. “Can you believe it? I’ve been working with the top actors of GOD-za all week, and it has been a blast!”

Yurika’s face remains indifferent. “And you’re planning to drop college?”

“Well . . . yeah,” she replies. “Reni told me to. He’s planning on making me work full-time.”

Yurika’s voice is now infused with anger. “And you’re choosing him over us? Over our future? We had a dream, Chizuru. A  _ dream! _ And now you’re forsaking me--and our friends--for . . . this?”

Chizuru’s eyes stained red with rage. She laughs, rather sarcastically; then pulls her closer to make her feel her wrath. Her rage.

“I thought--I thought you would be proud of me! Look at me, a choreographer in the top acting troupe in Veludo Way, and you’re not supporting me! You should be proud of me!” She screams, not minding the fact that they’re literally in the middle of the road.

“You don’t  _ know  _ how much damage Reni caused!”

“And you don’t know how much he changed my life!”

Chizuru lets go of a teary Yurika. She fixes her hair, wipes her own tears, and stands tall.

“From now on, we’re not friends anymore. We’re going against each other; let’s see who wins.”

“I accept your challenge.”

It is not Chizuru who walks away first. It is Yurika. 

And in an alleyway somewhere, a man with long purple hair, a devious smile, and a rather . . . tacky outfit smirks in satisfaction.

His plan has begun.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me @usuigoi on twt!


End file.
